Albuquerque to Las Vegas

Old Feb 25th, 2015, 11:58 AM
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Albuquerque to Las Vegas

If you were going to drive from Albuquerque to Las Vegas (with many side trips including to the Grand Canyon) and you wanted to have springlike temps (generally 60s), would the end of May into the beginning of June be a reasonable time to do it? (No time would be spent in Las Vegas.)
We're really flexible as to when we do this, and would appreciate input from those familiar with the weather along this route, with the understanding that there are no guarantees!
Thanks,
Gail
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Old Feb 25th, 2015, 12:15 PM
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It is getting pretty hot by June. If I could go any time of year, I'd do this trip in April or maybe early October.
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Old Feb 25th, 2015, 12:26 PM
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Is this a one way car rental? If you don't want to spend any time in LV why go there?
Are you coming back to ABQ?
If you can get a reservation at lodging at the South Rim of the Grand canyon, get it and plan your trip dates from that.
You could detour NW from Gallup and drive through Monument Valley before seeing the Grand Canyon.
If you don't want to spend any time in LV, stay at the Hacienda hotel/casino which is about 2 miles from Hoover Dam along US 93.
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Old Feb 25th, 2015, 12:26 PM
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Thanks, Janisj.
I was considering early May but thought, because of the altitude of some of the places, it might be either still cold or even snowy. I've looked at other threads and it looked like April was light jacket weather. Early October is practically our only decent weather here in NH, so I hate to leave then. Maybe next I'll compare relative length of daylight hours and see if that makes a big difference. I think I must have a very small "window of thermal dissatisfaction"!
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Old Feb 25th, 2015, 12:30 PM
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Tomfuller - when I was planning this trip about a year ago, I resisted the highway robbery one-way-rental charges and was trying to make a loop. I think I'm ready to give in and just pay the price. We fly Southwest on points and there are reasonable flights between MHT and ABQ and then LAS back to MHT. I don't think there's any better departure airport for us. You gave me some good suggestions for stops and I'll look at a map to see how far the Hacienda hotel is from the LAS airport. I'm thinking we'll take about 10 days to poke along from Albuquerque to Las Vegas and make all kinds of interesting forays here and there.
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Old Feb 25th, 2015, 12:58 PM
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I would go in late April or early May. We were in Vegas once in mid-May and it was 107 degrees on the Strip - at night.

Lee Ann
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Old Feb 25th, 2015, 01:08 PM
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Consider PHX too; Southwest flies there too.
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Old Feb 25th, 2015, 01:17 PM
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Nepheline, Considering you don't plan to spend time in Las Vegas, your assessment is correct. Most of your route will be through higher altitude locations. Average highs at South Rim Grand Canyon are April/60, May/70, June/80. About the same at Flagstaff, about 10 degrees warmer in Albuquerque.

This is a good resource: http://www.weatherbase.com
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Old Feb 25th, 2015, 01:43 PM
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DebitNM has the right idea. Fly to Phoenix and make a loop in Arizona with a slight detour over to Hoover dam before returning the car to PHX.
If you have the time you might want to head up to Moab UT to see Arches NP.
May 3 (full moon) to May 10 (Mother's day) would be my target dates.
The ghost town I like off US 93 in AZ is Chloride.
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Old Feb 25th, 2015, 08:09 PM
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We did this trip but in reverse ABQ to Las Vegas.

First - check with the Grand Canyon National Park. I'm not sure when winter there ends and the parks reopen.

Second - we stayed on North Rim. The Grand Canyon Lodge - North Rim. It is a beautiful lodge and cabins. But it books up very fast.

We also made a stop in 4 corners - not much to see but its fun to say you did it and it was on the way. We also went to Mesa Verde and stayed in Durango, CO.

While we flew in ABQ we spent our first night at Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort & Spa north of ABQ. We then drove to Durango, CO and on to the Grand Canyon (north rim) and the to Las Vegas. In Las Vegas we didn't stay on the strip but about 30 minutes away at resort. We have two teenagers and this was the end of our trip - so it was mostly lounging by the pool.

I looked back at my notes and in them I made a comment:

"Don't let GPS take us to 98! Stay on 160 to 89. Part of 89 (between Page and Bitter Springs) is Closed. "

This was back in August of 2013 and again this was from ABQ via Durango, CO to the North Rim. I'm not sure if this road is reopen or not - but it would be worth double checking.

Also - I did shop for car rentals and found the most cost effective rental was to pick up the car in ABQ and return it in Las Vegas. Every other combination (PHX to Las Vegas / Las Vegas to ABQ or PHX / PHX to SLC) was more expensive.

It was one of the most memorable trips for our family. Enjoy!
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Old Feb 25th, 2015, 09:46 PM
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I believe, while North Rim closes for the winter, South Rim is open all year.
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Old Feb 26th, 2015, 12:13 PM
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DebitNM - Yes, I was also thinking of Phoenix as a possibility when I first started thinking about this trip a year ago. To make it worthwhile to fly into ABQ, I'd have to find more things to do west of ABQ (we've already spent a couple of vacations in the Santa Fe area). I looked over maps and materials for a couple of hours this afternoon, and other than Petroglyph National Monument, I'm not sure I see other stops of sufficient interest. I don't know how close up you can get to the glyphs in the PNM.
The Rock Art Ranch looks very enticing and maybe that will have enough petroglyphs to sate our appetites for rock art instead.
If we do a Phoenix-Phoenix loop as you suggest, then would 7 or 8 days be a reasonable amount of time to include the following: a couple of days at the Grand Canyon (south rim); a day Antelope Canyon; Canyon de Chelly/Hubble Trading Post; Rock Art Ranch; maybe a day in Sedona? What else would fit into that loop? S.O has been to Hoover Dam and I'm (sadly) not that interested. I'm thinking of a mix between Native American ruins, rock art, maybe a small amount of handmade art objects type shopping.
The distances between these attractions are throwing me off. I'm not used to planning trips where we have to pick up and move so many times. We're more typically slow travelers and soak up the ambiance as opposed to seeing a list of sights.
I really appreciate all the thoughts and suggestions.
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Old Feb 26th, 2015, 12:27 PM
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West of ABQ-
El Malpais - http://www.nps.gov/elma/index.htm

El Morro - http://www.nps.gov/elmo/index.htm

You can hike right up to the Petroglyphs; at least you could when I was there a few years ago. Be sure to read this info - re: Visitors Center. http://www.nps.gov/petr/planyourvisit/index.htm

As for AZ, I'll defer to other more familiar with that area.
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Old Feb 26th, 2015, 06:48 PM
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I've been to Petroglyphs National Monument and while there is rock art there it doesn't take that long to see it. I'm not sure it's worth the extra miles and one way fees.

I have not been to Rock Art Ranch but it sounds interesting. There are a few petroglyphs at the Petrified Forest that wouldn't be to far out of your way. The scenery is beautiful too!

There are some petroglyphs, pictographs and cliff dwelling ruins in Canyon de Chelly National Monument but the only place you can go in the valley on your own is the hike down to White House Ruins. You can drive the rim on your own but all other valley areas you need to be on a guided tour or have a navajo guide. We did the 1/2 day guided tour and I wish we had done the all day one.

Monument Valley is only 20 miles off your route and worth seeing even if you don't take a tour but better if you do!

The Upper Antelope Canyon slots will only take you a couple of hours tops. If SO really wants a Dam tour there's one at Glen Canyon Dam just outside of Page, AZ.

After the Grand Canyon you might consider going back towards Cameron and taking 89 south to drive though Wupatki National Monument to see the ruins. These are an example of ruins not in cliffs but out in the open. More cliff dwelling ruins can be found at Walnut Canyon National Monument about 10 miles west of Flagstaff. On your way back to Phoenix after Sedona make sure you stop at Montezuma's Castle National Monument. It's an amazing example of cliff dwellings. It won't take more than an hour or so to see.

If you go in late May make sure you avoid the Memorial Day weekend ESPECIALLY at the Grand Canyon and Antelope Canyon (Lake Powell)!!!! You DO NOT want to be in those locations over that weekend! Canyon de Chelly would be fine.

Utahtea
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Old Feb 26th, 2015, 06:49 PM
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Ooops....got my East and West mixed up on Walnut Canyon National Monument. It's about 10 miles EAST of Flagstaff.

Utahtea
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Old Feb 27th, 2015, 06:06 AM
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Debi and Utah: thanks for all the info. It's very helpful. I'm going to check out your suggestions over the weekend, do some reading, and see if I can come up with a tentative plan.
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Old Feb 27th, 2015, 07:56 AM
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Nepheline,

DebitNM and Utahtea have given you some great advice.

There are petroglyphs all over the area. If you want an idea of what is available along the route, you can go to my flickr page at

www.flickr.com/photos/emalloy2009

Click on the albums then on petroglyphs and pictographs. Most are along your route and all are labeled as to source, but only a few from each site are posted.

Rock Art Ranch is very interesting and a rich source of petroglyphs. When we went we called the owner, Brantley Baird, who gave us directions and was giving a group of people a tour on the day we called and let us join them. He also has a barn that is just full of antiquities, most of which were found on the ranch. He and his ranch hand, Clem, were worth the price of admission.
I don't think he lets people visit every day and the site is down a couple of gravel roads and the entrance is locked.

If you click my name here you can see some trip reports most of which involve some hiking to rock art sites.
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Old Feb 27th, 2015, 11:29 AM
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Emalloy - I looked over old threads that mention the Rock Art Ranch and noticed that they're not open Sundays, so I made a note of that, but I didn't realize that getting in is even "iffier" than that. Maybe it would be a good idea to email them once I have a tentative plan and see if he'd be willing to commit to being available on a particular day... I do think it sounds like a funky and interesting sight and individuals. I also noticed that you have to drive about 15 miles down gravel roads to get to the house/barn/starting point, so it's definitely worth trying to make pre-arrangements. I'll check out your flickr account, thanks for the link.
There are so many fascinating places to go in that wide area, the challenge is trying to string them together into a route that makes some sense in such a short period of time. I hope to spend some time working on this over the weekend; it's too cold to do much else anyway.
Thanks.
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Old Feb 27th, 2015, 01:14 PM
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The road in to Rock Art Ranch is gravel but it was very well maintained when we went in, we did not start at the barn but went there after we went to the petroglyph site. Probably good to make arrangements ahead of time, but luck was with us and we called the morning when we were in the area and met the group at noon.

If you go to Canyon de Chelley, hire your own guide and ask to point out petroglyphs and pictographs. There is one panel there that was done when the Spanish came through the area and shows a monk in a robe, very interesting.

I did find a petroglyph in Grand Canyon, walk down Bright Angel trail a short way past the tunnel and look up on the canyon wall 15 or 20 feet above the trail.
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Old Mar 5th, 2015, 06:30 PM
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Consider Acoma Pueblo that is west of Albuquerque if you like historical stuff. The people that work there are very nice, and you get a nice little historical tour of the Pueblo up on top of the mesa. Doesn't take more than a couple hours, could be a nice pitstop. I personally really enjoyed it. Make sure you take a little time to chat with the local people selling things. They can be really interesting to talk with.

I did a trip from Albuquerque to Flagstaff and looping back up to Page, Durango, and Shiprock in mid-May last year, and the weather was fine. If anything, I thought it was a little chillier than I expected. But pleasant enough that I felt I could be out in it all day and not get too hot or cold. Grand Canyon was actually fairly windy on top, but as soon as you drop below the rim the wind dies (and the heat increases).
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